Archive for the ‘Information’ Category
Restore Respect for Law, End Cannabis Prohibition
February 27th, 2010
Dakta Bourbon
Friday, 26 February 2010, 4:47 pm
Press Release: NORML
NORML to Collins: Restore Respect for Police by Ending Cannabis Prohibition
NORML President Phil Saxby today called on Police Minister Judith Collins to restore public respect for law enforcement by calling an armistice in this country’s prolonged “war on drugs”.
In response to recent attacks on Police Officers, Ms Collins has been quoted as saying that “it’s extremely important to rebuild the respect and fear for the law.”
“Fear of the law isn’t the problem,” said Mr Saxby. “What has been eroding away in New Zealand is respect for the law and then by association, those who enforce it.”
“The Misuse of Drugs Act created the so-called “war on drugs” which is actually a war on ordinary Kiwis. After thirty-five years of criminalisation, the 400,000 people from all walks of life who currently use cannabis justifiably feel marginalised and discriminated against.”
Medical Marijuana ‘Smokers Club’ to Open in Williamston
February 27th, 2010
Dakta Bourbon
WILLIAMSTON — Wayne Dagit has no problem admitting it.
“Right now, I am completely medicated,” he says, holding up a bag of marijuana.
Dagit is a reverend and a medical marijuana patient with Hepatitis C, which has just about destroyed his liver.
“Later tonight, I will enjoy some ‘Great White’ (a particularly potent strain of marijuana) because it is my right,” he says.
Dagit’s so devoted to it he’s opening the state’s first smokers club — Green Leaf University — where others like him can gather and get medicated. It’s set to open Monday, March 1, in Williamston.
Dagit is also the founder and reverend of the Church for Compassionate Care. He says he moved to Michigan when it legalized pot back in 2008. His ailments have since greatly improved.
Inhaled Marijuana is Medically Safe & Effective, Studies Show
February 26th, 2010
Dakta Bourbon
Sacramento, CA: The results of a series of randomized, placebo-controlled clinical trials assessing the efficacy of inhaled marijuana consistently show that cannabis holds therapeutic value comparable to conventional medications, according to the findings of a 24-page report issued Wednesday to the California state legislature by the California Center for Medicinal Cannabis Research (CMCR). Four of the five placebo-controlled trials demonstrated that marijuana significantly alleviated neuropathy, a difficult to treat type of pain resulting from nerve damage.
“There is good evidence now that cannabinoids (the active compounds in the marijuana plant) may be either an adjunct or a first-line treatment for … neuropathy,” said Dr. Igor Grant, Director of the CMCR, at a news conference at the state Capitol. He added that the efficacy of smoked marijuana was “very consistent,” and that its pain-relieving effects were “comparable to the better existing treatments” presently available by prescription. Read the rest of this entry »
Marijuana use by seniors goes up as boomers age
February 23rd, 2010
Dakta Green
By MATT SEDENSKY, Associated Press Writer Matt Sedensky, Associated Press Writer Mon Feb 22, 4:08 pm ET
MIAMI – In her 88 years, Florence Siegel has learned how to relax: A glass of red wine. A crisp copy of The New York Times, if she can wrest it from her husband. Some classical music, preferably Bach. And every night like clockwork, she lifts a pipe to her lips and smokes marijuana.
Long a fixture among young people, use of the country’s most popular illicit drug is now growing among the AARP set, as the massive generation of baby boomers who came of age in the 1960s and ’70s grows older.
The number of people aged 50 and older reporting marijuana use in the prior year went up from 1.9 percent to 2.9 percent from 2002 to 2008, according to surveys from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.
Want to buy some stamps?
February 23rd, 2010
Dakta Bourbon
Locked in a vault within the North Carolina Department of Revenue is a lickable bit of Kafka: a government-issued stamp that is expected to remain unpurchased, but which users of illegal goods must, by law, affix to substances they are not allowed to possess.
North Carolina is one of about 20 states that tax illegal drugs. The cost varies by state and weight, as does the stamps’ appearance (Nebraska’s, with a skull surmounting a syringe and joint, looks like Grateful Dead tribute art). Penalties for non-payment also vary, from being classed as a misdemeanour in Georgia to 200% of the tax plus $10,000 or five years in prison in Louisiana. Read the rest of this entry »
Calif. Research Shows Pot Can Ease Muscle Spasms
February 18th, 2010
Dakta Bourbon
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published: February 17, 2010
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — The first U.S. clinical trials in more than two decades on the medical benefits of marijuana confirm pot is effective in reducing muscle spasms associated with multiple sclerosis and pain caused by certain neurological injuries or illnesses, according to a report issued Wednesday.
Read the full article here, if you pay for it…
The First City in America to Criminalize Marijuana Passes Resolution Criticizing Drug War
February 18th, 2010
Dakta Bourbon
The El Paso city council has gone on record as condemning current US drug policies and demanding a shift to a smarter, more humane approach to drug sales and use.
A year ago, dismayed at the violence rocking its sister city of Ciudad Juárez just across the Rio Grande River, the city council in the remote Texas border city of El Paso unanimously passed a resolution calling for serious consideration of ending drug prohibition, only to see it vetoed by Mayor John Cook. Then, after heavy-handed warnings from US Rep. Silvestre Reyes (D-TX) and the city’s delegation in the state legislature that such a resolution could threaten the city’s funding, the city council backed down, failing to override Cook’s veto.
“Nobody should be punished by their boss simply for smoking cannabis”
February 13th, 2010
Dakta Green
“Nobody in New Zealand should be ever punished by their boss simply for smoking cannabis on their own time”, said Dakta Green today.
“So long as no-one is being hurt and no disturbance caused, what goes on outside of the job is no matter of the company or the employer”.
Mr Green was referring to the current investigation by TVNZ into claims that its staff smoked cannabis during a visit to Waitangi on the CannaBus with Dakta Green and members of NORML and the Daktory.
“NORML sympathizes with any employee in New Zealand who fears for their job because of private cannabis use, or who has faced consequences from their employer for having used cannabis”, Mr Green said.
Dakta Green said he knew of many people in the cannabis culture who felt upset about the way in which Close Up treated him in a segment aired last week. “Some have made formal complaints to the Broadcasting Standards Authority, but my understanding is they only complained about the content of the show, nothing else”, he said.
“Any claims of wrongdoing alleged against the TVNZ staff in question are nothing but hearsay”, he said. “We enjoyed their company and I believe they enjoyed ours, but I can categorically say they never smoked cannabis with us on the CannaBus”.
“And besides”, Mr Green continued, “even if they had, so what? They’re adults! It’s only cannabis – a drug that’s far safer than both alcohol and tobacco”.
“I’m very sorry these people are being treated this way; particularly as it’s happened immediately following the Law Commission’s report recommending no more criminalization of cannabis smokers.”
Dakta Green said that such persecution is an infringement of basic human rights, something he plans to talk about more on the upcoming Armistice Tour 2010.
ENDS
Contact: dakta_green@thedaktory.org.nz
TVNZ probes claim staff used cannabis
February 13th, 2010
Dakta Bourbon
Television New Zealand is investigating an allegation that staff smoked cannabis while in Waitangi during a visit by drug law reform campaigners.
A report on a journey to the Waitangi Day celebrations by activist Dakta Green and others in the “Cannabus” bus featured on Close Up last Tuesday.
Mr Green is a leading member of the National Organisation for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (Norml).
The report featured scenes of drug-taking.
The Herald understands a complaint about the item included an allegation that four TVNZ staff took drugs with the Norml contingent in the bus after filming had finished for the day.
TVNZ: Calls for laws to be softened
February 11th, 2010
Dakta Bourbon
A high powered legal team is calling for cannabis laws to be softened, with the penalties reduced for those caught with a small amount of the illegal drug.
The Law Commission also wants sick New Zealanders to be able to use marijuana for medicinal purposes.
The commission says large scale commercial drug dealing wreaks havoc in New Zealand’s communities and the law should continue to impose heavy penalties in these cases.
But President Sir Geoffrey Palmer says the Misuse of Drugs Act is over 30-years-old and patterns of drug use have changed markedly over this time.